SGR

Why though? Just because they're your special little band and no one else understands them like you do? They don't deserve to enjoy them because they weren't listening to them when they peddled their wares only on their bandcamp?

Sometimes, great artists and musicians attain mainstream relevance and awareness. Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Nirvana were all great bands even after they reached mass appeal. I get it with some artists that sell out or water down their vision or art specifically to be more successful commercially, but to avoid listening to bands just because they became successful or critically acclaimed seems like an elitist and hipster attitude to me.

grindy

So you are a "true individualist" who doesn't care what anyone thinks as long as you can posture as non-conformist but when something could make you look more normal/mainstream etc. you suddenly care a lot? Fascinating.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Vetiver

Hey, I'm not speaking for myself - I'm sure there were many Manic Street Preacher fans who felt the same way during the Everything Must Go era.

For me, it's the bandwagon jumpers or those who were too lazy to look outside of the top 40 until the artist/band became more successful.

As for the last part of your post, I never said that, so please stop putting words in my mouth.

Vetiver

Triggered are we? Have I called you out and you're feeling a hint of shame?

Continue twisting my argument to make you feel better about yourself.

SGR

To be fair, you didn't say you stopped listening to them, but you did say you tried to 'distance' yourself from them, as if acknowledging publicly that you love (or loved) Radiohead would sully your image after they became popular. As if anyone really cares when you started listening to them or how underground your tastes in music are.

I've never met Manics fans who felt that way, at least not nowadays and I used to frequent forums of the group. I think most of their fans were just happy they decided to continue after losing Richey. Besides, their sound changed pretty drastically from Generation Terrorists to The Holy Bible. They went from sounding like Guns N Roses lite glam rock to dark grungy post punk. Everything Must Go just continued the change of their sound to something more brit pop in flavor.

Besides, why does it matter if people are 'bandwagon jumpers' or only listen to Top 40 radio? If people like that, and that's how they enjoy music, what's wrong with that? Not everyone who listens to music is going to become an obsessive crate digger, looking for hidden gems that don't get airplay and to characterize them as lazy or lesser than just seems unnecessary, and again, elitist.

Vetiver

I tried to distance myself from them solely due to the fact that mentioning how much one liked the band had now become a cliché. That’s all. In another thread, I have stated that I prefer The Bends to OK Computer. For people to start jumping onto the bandwagon, especially upon the release of (IMHO) an inferior album was additionally annoying.

That’s what I heard about the Manics, so we possibly referred to different sources.

What annoys me about such people? Their inherent laziness and unwillingness to discover art for themselves (I’ve always considered such a quest to be part of one’s spirituality), their belief that anything that isn’t popular or mainstream isn’t good enough, and the fact that they come across as indoctrinated tools.

“Little people in little houses, like maggots, small, blind and worthless…”

The Batlord

Spirituality? It's sound waves, dork.

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SGR

Maybe people just approach and listen to music differently than you. And maybe that's okay? I don't think the people you're talking about have some weird belief that: "If it's not on the radio and it's not popular, then it's obviously not good and I only listen to good music!" - I think what's more likely is that they turn on the top 40 radio (or whatever the equivalent is today, a contemporary pop playlist perhaps), they get to hear some catchy hooks and some polished earworms, and it makes them happy and/or they enjoy it. Isn't that the whole point of music? Indoctrinated? Come on, now.

Besides, most young people use streaming services and Youtube which has democratized how most people listen to and discover new music. They may start with a popular song they like, and the algorithm does the work in recommending them other songs, often times less popular, that they might also enjoy. It's a much better system than the options we used to have - terrestrial radio and MTV, etc. We don't even have to call into radio shows to get them to play specific songs we want to hear anymore (and that's if we were lucky enough to catch the name of the song) - aint that a beautiful thing?

Vetiver

I don't own any Kate Bush albums because none of them have been good enough to add to my collection.

grindy

Called out how? Shame for what? What are you even talking about?
I've pointed out an inconsistency in your reasoning and I don't think I've twisted anything in my argument. Ball's in your court.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.